A rough-cut portrait of a young Pentecostal church in Zimbabwe and its pastor, Bishop Trevor Manhanga, a leader in the Pentecostal Assemblies of Zimbabwe. This portrait was a first step in eventually completing a full-length film "African Christianity Rising: Stories from Zimbabwe," which interwove these materials with footage from two quite different Christian communities, United Methodists and a rural, old-style independent Zion Apostolic Church. This material was shot in 2000 and, in part because of the economic and political crisis unraveling in Zimbabwe, it was not until 2011 that I was able to return to do follow-up filming in this and two other communities in which we filmed. Material was shot largely by David Lyman.

A rough-cut sketch of United Methodists in Zimbabwe, in Dangamvura, a township in the City of Mutare. This portrait was a first step in eventually completing a full-length film "African Christianity Rising: Stories from Zimbabwe" which interwove these materials with footage from two quite different Christian communities, a young Pentecostal church in Mutare and Zion Apostolics in the countryside. This material was shot in 2000 and, in part because of the economic and political crisis unraveling in Zimbabwe, it was not until 2011 that I was able to return to do follow-up filming in this and two other communities in which we filmed. Material was shot largely by David Lyman.

A rough-cut sketch of a Zion Apostolic church community in Zimbabwe, largely in the rural area of Bikita South. This portrait was a first step in eventually completing a full-length film "African Christianity Rising: Stories from Zimbabwe" which interweaves these materials with footage from two other, distinctly different Christian communities: United Methodists and Victory Tabernacle, a new Pentecostal church. Their are characters and events that appear here that don't in the final film, including a glimpse of the polygamous household of Vashandira, a prophet/midwife, and her husband, Bishop Ndamba. It was his first wife, Vashandira, who recruited those wives, often from her family and friends. This material was shot in 2000 and, in part because of the economic and political crisis unraveling in Zimbabwe, it was not until 2011 that I was able to return to do follow-up filming in Zimbabwe among these and other characters in the two other communities in which we filmed. Material was shot largely by David Lyman.

We built this portrait of Mensa Otabil from Accra, Ghana, a pioneer in building independent charismatic churches in modern, urban Africa, as part of a documentary series, "African Christianity Rising." For our just-released documentary series, AFRICAN CHRISITANITY RISING, visit our website: jamesault.com.

Though we couldn't include all of this portrait of Mensa Otabil in our film, it is one of the many "Extras" included in our films' Complete Educational Edition. Again, for details, visit our website. Otabil's own quite moving personal story demonstrates, I believe, the appeal of his kind of practical Christianity to young, urban Africans, that, in less selfless hands, can become the kind of ego-centered "prosperity gospel" so often held up for criticism.

A portrait of now retired Archbishop Peter Kwesi Sarpong, who was pioneer in introducing African culture into worship in his Diocese of Kumasi in Ghana, West Africa. Sarpong was one of our main on-camera commentators for our full-length documentary just released: AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY RISING--STORIES FROM GHANA. For details, visit our website: jamesault.com.